IT’S OFFICIAL: THE ERA OF GOOD FEELING and fruitful dealings between congressional Republicans and President Clinton is over. So says House speaker Newt Gingrich. That era began with the passage of welfare reform and a minimum-wage hike in 1996 and continued through the balanced-budget agreement of 1997. It ended this spring, amid the Clinton sex scandal, when the White House accelerated its stonewalling of investigators and its efforts to blow up congressional probes, according to Gingrich. His speeches attacking the president are only the most visible manifestation of the decision to confront Clinton on scandal and substance. Last week, a GOP leader shopped around for a sponsor of a House resolution demanding Clinton make public “all records or documents relating to any claims of executive privilege.” The resolution was designed to get the issue of Clinton’s wrongdoing and stonewalling out of various committees and onto the House floor (and on TV). The person behind the resolution? Gingrich.
The question now is whether Gingrich is in for the long haul — through the November election. Absolutely, Gingrich says. “I may not be real quick, but I’m amazingly steady.” One line in his April 27 speech to the political action committee GOPAC that inaugurated the new anti-Clinton phase may reinforce Gingrich’s determination. “I will never again as long as I am speaker make a speech without commenting on” the president’s drive to undermine independent counsel Ken Starr and thwart any investigations of Clinton scandals, he declared. And he’s largely kept to that pledge. (He’ll skip zinging Clinton, however, in commencement addresses in June at Georgia Tech, the University of California at San Diego, and Ohio University.) Three days after the GOPAC speech, Gingrich urged Republicans to “go to the country” and “stake everything” on their case against Clinton, particularly on two principles. One is that Clinton isn’t above the law, the other that the public has a right to know about presidential wrongdoing.
By mid-May, Gingrich had added a third principle to be used against Clinton. It involves Clinton’s obligations as the nation’s chief law-enforcement officer. By refusing to cooperate with Starr, the president flouts rather than enforces the law, Gingrich insists. Stonewalling is the antithesis of law enforcement.
Meanwhile, Gingrich is promoting a swarm of policy issues. His plan is for Republicans to “redefine the contrast” with Clinton. He now talks up conservative issues that have one thing in common: There’s not a chance Clinton will go along with them. Gingrich wants to slash the capital gains tax rate to 15 percent and make sure there’s “no net tax increase” this year even while the tax on cigarettes is jacked up. He’s eager to eliminate the ” marriage penalty” and provide full deductibility for individual health- insurance expenses. He’s signed on to Rep. John Kasich’s budget, which cuts an additional $ 100 billion in spending. And he’s begun thinking about slogans: Big-government greed vs. your pocketbook; Get the surplus out of Washington or they’ll spend it; Vote Democratic — so we can cover it all up.
The emphasis on substance is partly a response to Republican queasiness about the speaker’s attacks on Clinton, especially his assertion that actual crimes and not just a scandal are at the heart of White House wrongdoing. At a May 14 strategy meeting, Gingrich agreed to ratchet the crime talk down a notch and play up policy matters more. Some senior GOP House members suggested Gingrich soften his language, be more circumspect, and make more frequent use of the word “alleged.” Again, he’s done that. An example is this way of characterizing Clinton’s actions: “We have no proof today that the president has violated the law. We do have proof the president is not cooperating with enforcement of the law.” In demanding accountability from Clinton, “the trick is to be calm, steady, and stick to the fundamentals,” Gingrich says.
What’s striking about the get-aggressive strategy is that most Republicans on Capitol Hill believe Gingrich is basically doing the right thing. Henry Hyde, Bill Archer, Bob Livingston, Tom DeLay, Dick Armey, John Linder — they haven’t complained. And their assent wasn’t a foregone conclusion. As speaker, Gingrich is a loner. He has no inner circle of House members he relies on for advice. His most influential adviser is aide Joseph Gaylord. Gingrich didn’t consult other members before launching his campaign against Clinton. Yet he now appears to be getting along with them better than he has in months.
If nothing else, they’re delighted that Gingrich has thrilled the Republican base. Still, some of Gingrich’s old friends aren’t sure he’ll succeed in putting Clinton on the defensive and forcing the public to take the charges against him seriously. Gingrich concedes his judgment of Clinton represents, for now, a minority view. “I’m not worried about it,” he says. His press secretary, Christina Martin, says the speaker “expects the environment to warm to the message.” When? “I don’t know when critical mass occurs,” Gingrich says. But Clinton and his apologists have a tougher problem. “They either pro-actively clear their name or there’s a presumption of guilt, ” says Gingrich.
There’s one other presumption going around — that Gingrich is running for president in 2000 and his attacks on Clinton will help his candidacy. Naturally, Gingrich says he hasn’t decided, and perhaps he hasn’t. But his tough stance against Clinton appeals to the quarter of the Republican electorate that’s most likely to vote in presidential primaries, the hard- core conservatives. I suspect this has occurred to Gingrich. And I’m sure it’s occurred to Gaylord, the person in Gingrich’s orbit most resolute in pressing for a presidential bid. Whatever Gingrich decides, he’s quickly putting himself in a position to run. If Clinton repels the Gingrich onslaught, the speaker will still get credit for trying. But if the public actually turns against Clinton, Gingrich will bask in the glow of triumph. And run.
Fred Barnes is executive editor of THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
